Engenius announces new lineup of outdoor Wi-Fi access points and bridges

PC World - Engenius Technologies announced Monday a new line of weatherized 802.11n access points and bridges suitable for mounting in outdoor locations. While Engenius is targeting these devices at small businesses and schools, the products are inexpensive enough to also be attractive to homeowners looking to extend the range of their wireless networks to the patio or backyard, or in the case of the bridge, to a secondary building, such as a detached garage or workshop.

The three wireless bridge models can establish a wireless connection to an existing wireless router and allow you to connect hard-wired Ethernet devices to your network, such as outdoor Internet Protocol (IP) cameras or an Ethernet switch or access point inside the building. The three wireless access points establish a hard-wired Ethernet connection to an existing network and provide wireless access to that network. Prices for both types of products range from $60 to $90 each.

Each of the three wireless bridge models feature internal MIMO (multiple input/output) antennas. The model ENS200, $60, is built with one 8 dBi antenna and can deliver a single 150 mbps spatial stream on the 2.4GHz frequency band. The 2.4GHz model ENS202, $80, uses two 8 dBi MMO antennas and delivers two 150 mbps spatial streams (300 mbps in aggregate). The $90 ENS500 is a 5GHz bridge with a single 10 dBi MIMO antenna capable of delivering throughput up to 300 mbps.

Each of the bridges is outfitted with two 100 mbps Ethernet ports, one for a power-over-Ethernet (PoE) connection to the network, and a second non-PoE 100 mbps Ethernet port for connecting a client device, such as an Internet Protocol (IP) camera. Each product in the ENS line will be shipped with a PoE injector, so that you don't need to deploy a PoE switch.

Each of the three wireless access points features detachable 5dBi omni-directional MIMO antennas. The $60 model ENS200EXT has a single antenna to deliver a single 150 mbps spatial stream on the 2.4GHz frequency band. The ENS202EXT has two antennas and can provide throughput of 300 mbps at 2.4GHz. The ENS500EXT supports two 150 mbps spatial streams (300 mbps in aggregate) on the 5GHz frequency band.

The six devices are housed in IP65-rated enclosures, meaning that the devices inside are protected from both dust and mild water jets, such as from a garden hose. Engenius expects all six products to be available for purchase in late March.